SterlingArcher

Hi everyone,

First post on rennlist, but been lurking for the past couple of months. A few weeks ago I placed an order for my first Porsche -- a Cayman GTS. I test drove the Cayman S about 5 times and loved it, but I realized I was already selecting most of the GTS options so I thought why not go for it? My car's estimated delivery is November so I have about 8 weeks before my options are locked in.

One issue that I've had though is that I love the leather interior of the Cayman S' that I drove, but alcantara is foreign territory for me and I'm a apprehensive about it. I did check out a 911 with an alcantara steering wheel and I did not like it, particularly because it only had 21k miles on it and yet the steering wheel looked noticeably worn. Perhaps more importantly to me, the steering wheel in alcantara doesn't look as classy as the leather one.

So I've deleted the steering wheel in alcantara but the problem is that the rest of the alcantara on the GTS is for the most part either take it or leave it (as in, I can't pick and choose what I want in alcantara piecemeal).

I'm not a particularly vain person, but I feel a little worried that my 100k Porsche may come across as less elegant/luxurious to the average person due to the alcantara. Most people, including myself until a few months ago, don't realize alcantara is actually more expensive than most leather.

Can anyone give me their insight on alcantara in terms of it's "luxuriousness" and it's overall look? I have already run searches on rennlist about alcantara but most of what I've read has been about its durability and cost.

Thanks!

inkatouring

I cannot speak to Porsche's alcantara, but BMW's wears out and stains on the steering wheel. That doesn't matter to you, since you are going leather there. 997 alcantara seats seem -- from my limited experience -- to hold up pretty well. I'd check on that board, though.

But what is your concern? Resale or vanity? If resale, I seriously doubt deletion of alcantara is going to impact value. If vanity, well.....

And the Cayman section here is not nearly as active as that on planet9.com, which I would suggest you join and pop this question there.

Good luck with your decision (my fantasy GTS build has alcantara deletion but adds it on the roof, but that's just me -- and my build comes in almost $15k less than your $100k build, so I'm not going for many of the options....).

Dino944

Congrats on your order. You will love the car. We ordered a Cayman S last fall and we love it.

Alcantara...IMHO, its a politically correct way of saying synthetic suede. I suppose in a sporting context its supposed to hold you and be less slippery than leather. I know its pricey, but I despise it. Lots of Pcar owners like it, but I greatly prefer leather in my cars and would delete Alcantara from any possible order I would consider. The cars I've seen it in, it generally looks worn and tired after several years (not an issue if you trade cars in after just a few years). Granted, if one doesn't take care of leather that can show too, but its easy to keep leather looking great and a full leather interior IMHO adds a level of refinement and smells better than a largely alcantara interior...but that's just my 2 cents. We ordered a leather interior on our Cayman S and really like it. Good luck with whatever you decide.

JSF101

I'm with Dino on this one, much prefer full leather option

however, if I was getting a GTS I wouldn't mind having the GTS interior package with carbon and red stitching

guess it depends on what color of interior you want
some, like Amber Orange and Agate are "leather only" options

I could own a Sapphire Blue with Agate/Amber full leather and lots of additional leather bits

or any of the grays/silvers/blacks/white with red leather

The Pope

Alcantara is a brand name of a man made suede-like material. Unfortunately, the name is so well known that it is commonly used to describe a material in a generic way (like Kleenex). There are many companies who also manufacture synthetic suede but not all are the same quality as Alcantara. For example, the material used in my Ferrari Challenge Stradale was very cheap and not only did it fade but also wore off pretty quickly (too thin). Since then, Ferrari switched to Alcantara for that material as of the F430 model.

I have had real Alcantara in two Audi's (daily drivers) and have been greatly satisfied. If Porsche is using real Alcantara (and they are), I would not hesitate a second to order it.

SterlingArcher

Thanks everyone for your replies. I apologize for not responding to your posts sooner, I had an unexpected trip out of town.

I still haven't made up my mind about the alcantara. It would be so easy to make this decision if I could just see one in person.

I'm not terribly worried about the alcantara's longterm durability since 1) I opted out of the alcantara steering wheel, which is what seems to get worn very easily and 2) i never keep my cars for more than 2-3 years max.

What I'm far more concerned about is the look of it and the luxury-factor. A smaller concern is that I hope the seats don't get hot easily and make you sweat.

I've asked the dealer to notify me if there's a non-Cayman GTS that could give me a good idea of what to expect, but so far they said nothing is available.

Don996cab

I went for the leather...

Don996cab

One more..

1atom12

Hi Don,
Can you confirm that you did not receive the GTS logo on your headrests because you selected all leather?

Don996cab

No GTS logo on the seat tops..

1atom12

Thanks...